By Selena Stevens

Presented were the Otis A. Singletary, W.L. Matthews and Charles T. Wethington Jr. Fellowship awards.

The Otis A. Singletary Fellowship Award is given to a UK student entering graduate or professional study who has demonstrated high academic achievement and university leadership. The award provides a $12,000 stipend for the 2000-2001 academic year and is provided by the UK Athletic Association to honor the eighth president of UK. The awardees are:

• Rocky Evan Bacelieri: Bacelieri is graduating from UK  with a degree in biology and will enter the College of Medicine in the fall. He has served as an undergraduate teaching assistant in biological sciences and has participated in Alzheimer’s disease research. He is a recipient of the Biology Ribble Scholarship and is a member of the Alpha Epsilon, Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key national honor societies. His volunteer work includes delivering medicine to the elderly and working in physical therapy and at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington.

He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Terry Bacelieri of London, Ky.

• Christy Renee Goldsworthy: Goldsworthy is graduating  with an English degree and will enter the College of Law in the fall. She is a National Merit Scholar, an Honors Program student, a member of the Honors Program Student Council and Societas Pro Legibus and is a nominee for Phi Beta Kappa. She has served as a tutor for high school athletes and as president of the Ashland Chapter of Christian Youth Services. She is a teacher at Woodbridge Academy and participates in Bouncing Babies, a literacy outreach program of the Lexington Public Library.

She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rick Ison of Rush, Ky.

• Feerozeh Dawn Jahanshahi: Jahanshahi earns her biology degree and will enter the College of Medicine in the fall. She has been a member of the Persian Student Association, Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society and Alpha Epsilon Delta pre-medical honor society. She has served as a tutor, privately and with UK’s Learning Services Center, and was a chemistry department laboratory assistant. She has volunteered at Morton Middle School, with the American Cancer Society and UK’s pediatric department’s Young Parents Program.

Jahanshahi is the daughter of Izadbak and Christine Kay Jahanshahi of Lexington.

• Kevin Pierce: Pierce is graduating  with a dual bachelor and master’s degree in engineering and business administration. He is president of his fraternity chapter at UK and is a member of the fraternity’s board of alcohol reform. He also serves as judical board chairman for the UK Interfraternity Council. He has been a group leader for Kentucky Welcome, the university’s freshman orientation. He is a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society and the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers.

Pierce is the son of Joseph and Teresa Pierce of Louisville.

• Azadeh Shirazi: Shirazi will earn her biology degree  and enroll in the College of Medicine in the fall. She has spent her summers working as a research assistant at Harvard Medical School, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and UK’s biochemistry department. She has volunteered at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Parkland Hospital in Dallas and the Pediatric Speciality Clinic at the Kentucky Clinic. An Honors Program student, she has served as president of the Persian Students Association and has been a member of the International Student Council.

Shirazi is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ghasem Shirazi of Lexington.

The W.L. Matthews Jr. Fellowship is awarded for graduate or professional study, carries a stipend of $12,000 for the 2000-2001 academic year provided by the UK Athletic Association and is named for the former law school dean who served as the UK faculty representative to the NCAA for 23 years. Recipient of the award for 2000-2001 is:

• Michael Odell Walker: An agricultural public service and leadership student, Walker has been nominated to the dean’s list in each semester he’s been at UK. He was recently selected as one of “40 Kentucky Leaders for a New Century,” a year-long networking and training program sponsored by Kentucky’s newspapers. He is a past state president and secretary of Kentucky 4-H and has participated in a policy internship with the Kentucky Farm Bureau. In 1999, he was a legislative intern for Sen. Mitch McConnell at his Washington, D.C., office. He has served as president and vice president of the university’s pre-law association and as an associate justice for the Student Government Association Supreme Court.

He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Danny Walker of Kuttawa, Ky.

The Charles T. Wethington Jr. Fellowship is awarded for graduate or professional study, carries a stipend of $12,000 for the 2000-2001 academic year provided by the UK Athletic Association and is named for the current president of UK. This year’s two recipients are:

• Stephanie Jane Berrong: Berrong is graduating  with a double major in English and the classics and will pursue graduate study in the classics beginning in the fall. A member of the UK Honors Program and Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, she is a Kentucky Governor’s Scholar and is co-founder of the Community Bookshelf, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness of literacy and learning by providing books to Lexington’s children.

She is the daughter of Duane and Jane Berrong of Henderson, Ky.

• Kevin Hong: A biology student, Hong will enter graduate study in the College of Medicine in the fall. He has been a member of the Honors Program, Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity and Alpha Epsilon Delta pre-medical honorary. He has served as a student laboratory instructor for Chemistry Excel and has been a volunteer for Hospice of the Bluegrass, Radio Eye and Shriners Hospital for Children.

He is the son of Mei and C.B. Hong of Lexington.